Harvest is a guide to picking out fresh produce. It tells you what’s available in your area, provides tips on selecting the perfect produce and how to store it, and gives pesticide information so you can buy organic when possible. It’s available for the iPhone for $1.99.
It’s simple, but very useful. Substitutions offers ingredient substitutes for things you ran out of, but it also gives healthier options or allergy-free options for recipes. It costs $0.99 on the Apple App Store.
Find healthy alternatives to fast food when you’re traveling with Food Tripping. It will show you juiceries, farmer’s markets, microbreweries, local restaurants, and health food stores nearby. The app is a collaboration between Ford and SHFT.com. It’s available on Google Play and the Apple App Store for free.
This is an app for healthy recipes, for drinks, snacks, desserts, and full meals. It promotes clean foods — whole, organic, and local produce and meat — and sustainable foods whose life cycles are friendlier to the environment. It’s available on Google Play ($2.99) and the Apple App Store ($3.79).
NoshPlanet helps you find sustainable food at local restaurants and eateries. The company is partners with Seafood Watch, Fair Trade USA, Food Alliance, Green Seal, and Rainforest Alliance to make sure the restaurants meet the organizations’ standards for sustainability. It’s available on the Apple App Store for free.
This is a great guide to sustainable seafood from the Marine Conservation Society. It tells you what fish are okay to eat and what to avoid because of farming or fishing practices. It’s available on Google Play and the Apple Store for free.
What’s On My Food is an app made by the Pesticide Action Network, which has a growing database of pesticides used on crops. It links the USDA food testing data with toxicology data to compile the lists. Part of the purpose of the app is to prove which pesticides are harmful and which are safe to eat, and to help you sort them out. It’s available on the Apple App Store for free.
Locavore is an app to help you find local, in-season food. Just put in your location and find nearby farmer’s markets and farms and seasonal recipes. The app also links to Facebook to easily share what you found. It’s free on Google Play and the App Store.
Chemical Cuisine was created by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It hosts a database of food additives, so when you look at the ingredients list and have no idea what some of the words are, you can quickly find it. It has descriptions and safety ratings of more than 130 food additives, and they are always adding to it. It’s free on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
My Fitness Pal is a tried and true calorie counter. It has a database of more than 4 million foods, from name brands to grocery store brands to restaurant meals. It’s free, and also allows you to enter your exercise routine, challenge friends, and share your progress. It can even connect with some wearable fitness trackers. It’s available on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone.
Eating healthy at restaurants can be difficult. With HealthyOut, search for a meal at local restaurants and find a version of one based on particular diets, dietary restrictions, or calorie count. It’s free on Google Play and the App Store.
This is another pesticide tracking app. The Environmental Working Group looked at data from the USDA and compiled it to rank the most and least contaminated foods in the grocery. The Dirty Dozen refers to the 12 most contaminated foods. It’s free on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
Lyndsey Gilpin is a former Staff Writer for TechRepublic, covering sustainability and entrepreneurship. She's co-author of the book Follow the Geeks.
